Facial Aging

by Dr. Suzanne Darby "Dr. Suze"

Have you reached the point yet where you look in the mirror and no longer see the face you expect to see looking back? If not, count your blessings. If you have, count your blessings! Even though facial aging is typically gradual, there are key life events that can accelerate the rate of aging. Long or severe illness, the death of a loved one, menopause, rapid weight loss or gain, divorce, heavy drinking, medications, prolonged sun exposure, smoking, and insomnia are just a few. When people start hearing that they look tired or stressed it can be disheartening.

As a Physician and Master Injector, when giving a consultation, I help identify the specific areas of the face affected by aging. We determine what may be contributing factors and how we can best improve your overall health and appearance. Breaking the face down into the components of aging identifies the direction of our treatment. There are four main areas we assess: bone structure, fat pads, muscle tone, and skin quality.

The bone structure of our face changes as we age similarly to the bone structure in the rest of our body, affected by osteoporosis and osteopenia. The cheek bones lose their prominence and flatten, causing jowls and nasolabial folds to become increasingly prominent. The maxilla, which supports the medial cheek, nose, and teeth, also thins causing the nasolabial folds to deepen, and the lip to flatten. The jawline becomes softer as the edges of the mandible change, and we lose the gonial angle often associated with a strong jawline. This can make the face look heavier in the front, contributing to the jowls and double chin. The chin changes as well, becoming softer and flatter, frequently with dimpling.

Prevention of bone loss is powerful, so maintaining healthy hormones and nutritional status for aging men and women is key. For aesthetic correction once bone loss has happened, “structural” hyaluronic acid fillers or Sculptra are used. HA fillers show immediate results and Sculptra produces gradual results that typically last 2-5 years.

Fat pads of the face start out when we are infants as almost one continuous structure (though it is not) that is full in the cheeks causing the face to look round and adorable. As we age through the lifespan, the fat pads continue to thin and move away from each other, as when the continents broke away from Pangea. Our attractiveness often peaks in our 20’s-40’s then begins to decline. We may see flattening of the medial cheek, hollowing under the eyes, hollowing under the cheek bones, jowls, sagging jawline, wrinkles and lines around the mouth, hollowing of the temples, and bony prominences appear near the eyebrows.

Prevention of excessive facial fat loss includes maintaining a healthy weight throughout adulthood, eating a healthy diet, using sun protection, and staying hydrated. Appearance can be improved with hyaluronic acid fillers and Sculptra. Results typically last 1.5-5 years.

"LOVE THE SKIN YOU'RE IN!"

Skin is often the first area people notice changes. Wrinkles, sun spots, dryness, adult acne, sagging, rosacea, large pores, crepiness, scarring, uneven skin tone, moles, dimpling, and a dull complexion often bring people in. All lifestyle factors impact skin, sometimes for the short term and sometimes long term. Fortunately, there are many ways to approach this.

Prevention, as always, is key. In women and men both, hormones play a big role in skin integrity and quality. Declining levels of estrogen in aging women results in crepey, thin, loose skin, increased hair growth and loss of femininity. Declining progesterone can cause the face to become puffy. Declining testosterone in men and women results in sagging, pale, dry skin. Loss of DHT in men can result in a less masculine face. Low growth hormone contributes to sagging, dull skin and slower wound healing. Nutrient deficiencies, such as vitamin C and D, zinc, and amino acids threonine, glycine, leucine, isoleucine and valine can cause a loss of elasticity and muscle tone.  

As a patient of Chambers Clinic, you are already taking measures to optimize your health, which will optimize your aging. For those of you who feel like you would like to take it a step further, please reach out and schedule an assessment or a free 15-minute consultation. There are many ways to make natural-looking improvements and we are here to help!  

Services offered: 

• Medical assessment and treatment: hormones, thyroid, weight loss, micronutrients, cardiovascular, food sensitivities, heavy metals 

• BHRT improves: facial vitality and color, thin and crepey skin on face and body, muscle tone, prevents bone loss 

• Peptide therapy improves: skin texture and quality 

• Botox/Dysport improves: facial wrinkles, muscle tension, acne, rosacea 

• Fillers-Juvederm, Restylane, Radiesse-Improve appearance of fat and bone loss, and loose skin 

• PDO Threads build collagen in thin, crepey skin, and some “lift” by repositioning skin 

• VI Peel is a chemical peel that can address sunspots, melasma, acne, rosacea, texture irregularities, pore size, sun damage, sagginess, dull skin, wrinkles, and hydration.  

• Microneedling treatments can be done with PRP, stem cells, and/or exosomes for collagen stimulation, reduction of pore size, improvement of texture and tone. 

• Skin Care: Ante-Age medical grade stem cell skin care helps hydrate and repair skin, other topical treatments available by prescription 

• Acupuncture